Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Second familiar spot for Calcavecchia

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1998 | 10:31 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's golf notebook appears Tuesday. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Mark Calcavecchia found himself in a familiar position following the final round of the 16th annual Las Vegas Invitational.

For the 20th time in his career, Calcavecchia was forced to explain how he didn't win a tournament.

"I was reading somewhere that, in the '90s, (Greg) Norman has had 23 seconds," Calcavecchia said when asked about his one-shot loss Sunday to Jim Furyk. "I have had 19 -- I guess I have 20 now. That's a lot of seconds. I'm kind of an expert on that, unfortunately."

But Calcavecchia -- who also has nine firsts in his 18-year PGA Tour career -- was quick to point out that he didn't necessarily blow a lot of leads in garnering so many runner-up finishes.

"Fifteen of those have probably been great rallies just to finish second," Calcavecchia said. "I've blown a few, but not many. It's definitely a good feeling making a great comeback.

"Now, if I would have had a shot lead with two or three holes to go and lost by a shot, then I would have been pretty frustrated."

Although he no doubt would have preferred not to add to his runner-up finishes, Calcavecchia said he accomplished exactly what he wanted last week in Las Vegas.

"Part of my goal here was to have a great time, which I did," he said. "I finished second and I basically locked myself into a Presidents Cup (berth, based on money earnings from the start of the 1997 season through this year's Tour Championship).

"It's something I want to be a part of, so this was a big boost to that. I also got a lot of confidence out of this week, and I'm looking forward to getting to Atlanta."

His second-place finish Sunday gave Calcavecchia three straight top-five showings in Las Vegas; he tied for fourth last year and tied for third in 1996.

Calcavecchia will take this week off in preparation for the Tour Championship in two weeks at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The Presidents Cup will be held Dec. 11-13 in Australia.

Calcavecchia moved from 10th to eighth in the Presidents Cup point standings. The top 10 players earn positions with the team and U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus will be allowed two wild-card picks.

Furyk moves up

Jim Furyk rose three places to No. 12 in the world golf rankings following his victory Sunday in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Furyk is second behind David Duval in PGA Tour winnings with $1.82 million. Duval took his 1998 earnings past $2.4 million by winning last week's Michelob Championship, his seventh tour victory in the past 12 months.

Mark O'Meara moved above Duval to No. 2 in the rankings after beating No. 1 Tiger Woods in Sunday's World Match Play Championship final.

Golden (Bear) parachute

Golden Bear Golf, Inc., announced Monday that Richard P. Bellinger, president and chief executive officer, has resigned "to pursue other interests."

The announcement came shortly after the company reported a restated loss of $24.7 million ($4.49 per share) for the year ended December 31, 1997, compared to a loss of $2.9 million ($.53 per share) as originally reported.

Upcoming events

The PGA Tour is in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., this week for the final full-field event of the year, the National Car Rental Classic (formerly the Walt Disney World Golf Classic). David Duval, the tour's leading money winner, is the defending champion. ESPN will televise Thursday through Sunday.

The Senior PGA Tour heads to Hawaii this weekend for the Kaanapali Classic. Hale Irwin is the defending champion and ESPN will televise Friday through Sunday.

The LPGA Tour is off this week in preparation for next week's Nichirei International team event in Ibaraki, Japan. The U.S. LPGA Tour won last year's tournament.

The Nike Tour is holding it's season-ending event, the Nike Tour Championship, this weekend in Mobile, Ala. Steve Flesch, who played on the PGA Tour this season, won last year's Tour Championship. ESPN will televise Thursday through Sunday.